How Did They Grow? Reviewing Five New Garden Varieties in 2013

Every year I like to pick out new garden varieties to try out for the following season.  It keeps gardening interesting and allows me to experience different vegetables and compare them to what I am already growing.  For 2012, I chose 5 different plants that I picked based on productivity, uniqueness and compactness.  You can read my original post here where I picked them - "One Way to Beat Garden Boredom."

So here were my picks with the garden packet photo on the left and my produce on the right...

 

1.  Summer Green Tiger Zucchini:  

 I chose this zucchini because it was a compact plant and because it was described as having a pleasant nutty flavor.  What was the result?  I would give this squash an A+ for productivity, compactness, disease resistance and delicious flavor!

It tasted great no matter what size it grew to and we gobbled this zucchini up all summer.  I had one plant that withstood all the fungus our wet and cool summer provided and it was faithful to give us lots of zucchini!

My small amount of beans are located in the right photo, bottom middle.

2. Dragon Tongue Wax Bush Bean:

This yellow wax bean caught my eye because of its unique markings and that fact that it was an heirloom made it a fun try in the garden.  What was the result for 2013?  I would give this bean a B - as it was a good tasting bean but it germinated very poorly even after two plantings.  Of course, some of this could be the season or it could have been the seed lot, but it was very spotty in germination and I had a lot of blank spaces in the garden.  The plants that did grow were semi productive.  This was a fun plant to try but I don't think it'll make it to the garden in 2014.

 

3. Sweet Pickle Pepper:

This little pepper plant looked adorable in the seed catalog and its little fruits were too hard to resist!  How did it grow in my garden?  Well I planted some in the garden and some in containers.  I would say they both grew equally well.  How did they fare?  I would give them a B.  They weren't as productive as the catalog photo but they did put on a decent amount for fresh eating.  I didn't get enough to can even though I grew at least 8 plants.  The taste was okay, not too sweet, the skins a little tough but not bad.  I will grow these again because I like having snack peppers to eat while working outside.  I would classify these as a novelty plant and not a heavy producer.

My Tumbling Toms got hit by late blight.

4. Tumbling Tom Yellow Tomatoes:

I grew these because I love how they are made to tumble and what fun to grow them in containers too.  The yellow variety was a nice change from the usual red tomatoes.  How did these little gems do?  These tomatoes get a C as a grade.  Unfortunately, they were difficult to germinate as well and the plants that did make it succumbed to blight and leaf spot. They managed to give me quite a few tomatoes, not as many as in the seed catalog photo, but enough to enjoy them.  Our wet cool summer wasn't a help for these tomatoes, but I am willing to try them next year hoping our summer temps next year will produce better results.  I really want to grow these as I loved growing vegetables in a vertical space.  Stay tuned to see how they work!

5. Small Wonder Hybrid Squash:
Last but not least was this smaller variety of spaghetti squash.  I grew it for its relatively compact vines but especially its smaller fruits.  It was listed to be very productive.  The result?  This one gets an A+!!  I have so many of these squash ranging in size from a softball to a small pumpkin.  They taste great and they did very well in the garden.  They held up well despite the fungal disease going on because of the wet weather and I have more than enough for winter.  I loved these and am going to include them again for 2013!  It was a rough year for many garden crops because of the weather and whatever made it through is definitely a keeper!

And that was the results of my 2013 Garden Trials.  Overall, I was very happy with my newest additions and most of them will be making a comeback in 2014.  It's great to keep a record of your garden plant varieties so you can make the best choices when it comes to planting time.  It's hard to believe, but you don't always remember what plants grew the best in your garden.

What was your favorite garden plant for 2013?

Blessings!!


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Pressure Cookers: A Kitchen Classic Basic

(Photo Source)

Some of my first cooking memories as a child are of a loud hissing noise emanating from my mom's little kitchen.  This was usually on a weekend when mom's Roast Beef Dinner with Potatoes and Carrots were usually   oursundaydinnermenun    .I remember my first Christmas being married.  One of the top three items on my wish list was for a pressure cooker.  I wanted one REALLY bad and I must have told a lot of people because I ended up getting two that year.  No problem.  My sister got two waffle makers, so we each swapped our extra appliances.  Perfect.

I used that little cooker for a LONG time.  It was perfect for the two of us as I was working full time and it was a fast way to cook a small roast when I got home from a long day.  I actually still have it even though it's a few decades old now.  I went on to buy a 12 quart pressure cooker too.  I use that almost exclusively for canning, but I did use it different times when I was cooking a roast beef dinner for a lot of people.  

What's so great about pressure cooking? 

1) It's first and foremost advantage is its ability to cook fast...really fast.  How about cutting down on the cooking time from 3 hours to 1 hour?  That's right.  It can cut cooking time by 1/3 on many recipes. Why is that an advantage?  Well, knowing that you're food will turn out well and cook fast easy makes cooking at home an advantage.  Especially if you're working full time or just busy in general.  It makes meal planning a bit easier too.  You don't have to start a meal 6-8 hours in advance when you're too busy to plan on what's for supper.  I love my crockpot too, but it definitely takes thought to get a meal together when you slow cook.

2) It's my favorite way to cook dried beans.  
Cooking dried beans in a pressure cooker is a dream!  I actually purchased my latest pressure cooker (electric) with cooking beans in mind.  It's so fast and easy and of course, so much better and economical than a can of salted canned beans.  I also like the idea of being able to store lots of dried beans in the pantry with rice.  They're great to have on hand.  (Read my post, 3 Fool-Proof Ways to Cook Dried Beans.

3) It's a great way to cook leaner cuts of meat which means saving $$$.
Go ahead and buy those round steaks and roasts.  I love my crockpot and they do a nice job of cooking, but if I'm short on time...my pressure cooker comes to the rescue!  My sister made a roast beef dinner complete with carrots and potatoes for her family and hungry guests in an hour.  With this kind of efficiency; it;s time to "watch out Rachel Ray, this could be the new 30 60 minute meal sensation!"  Also, if you tend to cook game meat, especially tough cuts of venison, a pressure cooker does a great job tenderizing the meat.

4) A pressure cooker is an excellent way to make quick quality broth/stock.
I was reading a few articles online about making stock with a pressure cooker.  Chefs do this in the kitchen and a recipe for it is in my pressure cooker cooking guide.  It takes about an hour...wow.  I've actually made soup up in a hurry by using the pressure cooker.  

How about the nutritional aspect of pressure cooking? 
A great question to be sure. Even though some vitamins are lost during cooking, the amount of vitamins lost is the same as standard cooking.  And if you consume the cooking liquid, you will regain some of the lost nutrients. According to this Eating Well  online article, "In the case of grains and legumes, although the vitamins and heat-sensitive vitamins and phytonutrients are vulnerable to deterioration, the net result of pressure-cooking is a positive nutritional gain—from the increased digestibility of the macronutrients (protein, fiber and starch) and the increased bioavailability of the essential minerals."  In other words, the beans are actually more easily digested with less "beanly" side effects.

What kind of pressure cooker works for you?
There are so many models to choose from and nowadays they are so much easier to use.  I have an electric model (my latest purchase) and I can put pinto beans in DRY and have them come out fully cooked within 40 minutes!!!  It's miraculous!  I am pretty in "love" with the electric version.  It sautes, browns, warms, and automatically shuts down when finished.  It also doesn't make any noise.  Seriously.  It's a great pressure cooker to start off with as it is so easy to use.  
My one tip?  Get the largest capacity pressure cooker you can afford (mine was under $90.)  You'll want to be able to cook up enough for the family and have extras.  

You may find a pressure cooker at a yard sale.  If you do and it's an old model, make sure you have an instruction book so you can buy a new gasket, and release valve for your cooker.  On my old models, there are only three parts that would need replacing.  The gasket is a rubber seal that can get cracked, brittle or stretched out if too old.  I would suggest asking someone who knows about pressure cookers before purchasing an old one.  Unless the one you find is still in its box and looks new.  These older models are a little trickier to use but if you are patient, completely fine.  I personally love the electric model and plan on keeping this version busy in the kitchen!

This is my electric pressure cooker...LOVE!!

There you have it.  I've come a long way (over 20 years!) since my first Mirro pressure cooker.  And I can't think of getting through my homemaking years without it.  I hope this helps you to make up your mind about this very valuable basic appliance.  It's a bit of an investment, but if you're into cooking, it's definitely an item you'll want to consider.

What are your experiences with a pressure cooker?

Blessings! 

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Making Your Beds - Garden Style

    We aren't this far along this year with our garden as of yet, but I had these pictures from last year, so thought I would talk about prepping your garden.
     We have an extremely small yard, but lots of enthusiasm, so we have this small garden in between our wood storage "shed" and our storage shed.  It's large enough for all our greens, some beans and whatever else I can think to put here.  
     Last year I grew several different types of basils.  Purple, Lettuce Leaf and Lemon to name a few.  

Todd, hard at work

     I always grow too much basil.  It just happens. I start it from seed IN the garden itself.  I've tried starting it in containers and transplanting it, buying plants from the store, etc...but the way it seems to work the best is to just plant it in the garden.
     I think if you wait until the soil really warms up well, it just takes off and always would catch up and look much healthier than any transplants.
      Todd is working hard with this amazing Honda rototiller.  A friend of ours who doesn't garden anymore is letting us use this as long as we garden.  It's a definite back saver! There are different theories about the usage of rototillers, some for them and some against their use, but it seems to work for us. We rototill leaves, grass clippings and whatever else right in so it will add to the soil.

     When we dig into the garden, we can actually see all the new "dirt" that has been made and the clay dirt mix of the original back yard....nice!  
     What helps with this is our compost bin.  I have a very lovely stainless kitchen bin that I empty into our large yard compost container.  Yes, all those veggie scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags (paper kind only), and eggshells all combine with leaf material to make a nice hummus-y mix.  It's a great way to recycle household waste, and use up yard waste to 

The robins love to go through the soil to find any stray worms!

actually make something that will benefit your garden.  We take all of the old flower stocks from the flower beds and place them in a big pile to work on breaking down.  This will become a nice bit of soil after awhile.


Why "make" dirt?  Have you seen the prices of dirt lately? It's crazy and if I can keep my garden waste out of landfill to make FREE dirt, then well, there you go!

Happiness is...my shiny kitchen compost bin, found online.

So, the compost begins it's life in the kitchen in this most lovely of compost containers.  It was actually a birthday gift a few years back.  I kept asking my sister for one for my birthday and she finally broke down and against all her love of shopping, bought me this beauty! Ahhh!  I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I have to say that the birthday I received it is forever burned into my memory as a very happy day indeed!

This was the garden growing in mid-June.  The large pyramid in back is for my pole beans.  I have lettuce going on on the far left, mustard greens and turnip green, arugula and broccoli raab.  Notice the raise beds too. During a bad rainstorm, parts of our yard can get a little flooded.  The raised beds actually help keep the plants above the water line.  Raised beds also tend to warm up faster and provide good drainage.  We also place a thin layer of grass clippings on the walkways to keep down weeds and eventually enrich the soil.  It's important to go easy putting on a lot of green clippings as they tend to steal nitrogen from the soil around them which is needed to help them break down.  

This is the garden when it's still a baby.  We have one more bed to the right which is out of the picture because it wasn't planted yet but was waiting for basil.  So nice!

Well, here's to dreaming about your garden beds...can't wait until ours gets done!  Very soon we hope!  Be blessed!